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This authoritative book includes cutting-edge insights from leading European and North American scholars who reflect upon business ethics' foundations, firms, markets and stakeholders in order to design more sustainable patterns of development for business and society. Together, the contributing authors advance critical, innovative and imaginative perspectives to rethink the mainstream models and address the sustainability challenge. Business Ethics and Corporate Sustainability will provide a stimulating read for academic researchers, and postgraduate students in business ethics, corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability as well as those interested in management, strategy and finance.

Machine generated contents note: The International Manager as a Reflexive Practitioner--S. Junghagen * Achieving Environmental Sustainability--A. Tencati &--S. Pogutz * Developing Social Responsibility; S. Vallentin &--M. Morsing * Managing Gender and Diversity in Organizations; M. A. Danowitz, E. Hanappi-Egger, &--R. Hofmann * Reinventing Organizations with Information Communication Technologies--P. Bielli * Holistic Problem Solving--K. Ims and L. Zsolnai * Cooperating with Social and Political Actors; E. OHiggins, K. Schedler, and Z. Boda * Engaging in Progressive Entrepreneurship--A. Tencati &--F. Perrini, N. Hofstra and L. Zsolna The International Manager as a Reflexive Practitioner--S. Junghagen * Achieving Environmental Sustainability--A. Tencati &--S. Pogutz * Developing Social Responsibility; S. Vallentin &--M. Morsing * Managing Gender and Diversity in Organizations; M. A. Danowitz, E. Hanappi-Egger, &--R. Hofmann * Reinventing Organizations with Information Communication Technologies--P. Bielli * Holistic Problem Solving--K. Ims and L. Zsolnai * Cooperating with Social and Political Actors; E. OHiggins, K. Schedler, and Z. Boda * Engaging in Progressive Entrepreneurship--A. Tencati &--F. Perrini, N. Hofstra and L. Zsolna

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that more sustainable sourcing policies by many multinational companies are having on the suppliers located in developing countries such as Vietnam. Questions are raised about the process through which CSR is reaching the country.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted in Vietnam thanks to the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's (UNIDO) Regional Office. The survey was carried out on the basis of a questionnaire that was used as a support during the direct interviews and was sent electronically when the preferred method of on‐site visits was not possible. A total of 25 Vietnamese enterprises were involved in the research.FindingsThe results achieved highlight, on the one hand, how CSR does make business sense even in a developing country such as Vietnam and, on the other, the difficulties related to the way requirements of sustainability are moving from Northern consumers to suppliers in Vietnam.Practical implicationsThis process calls for new forms of collaboration involving firms along the supply chain, local authorities, international players, and civil society.Originality/valueThe paper points out the unsustainability of the process through which corporate responsibility is being imposed on Vietnamese suppliers and how CSR, having become a mandatory requirement for access to international markets, might transform itself into a new type of technical barrier to trade. Therefore, CSR needs to be fostered rather than imposed, through the creation of innovative partnerships and locally‐rooted solutions.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the crisis of the business profession and the role that management education can play in renewing business management. It is argued that unless future managers demonstrate that they serve the common good in their daily practice, the legitimacy and moral standing of the business profession remain questionable.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents the Masters in International Management Program of CEMS – Global Alliance in Management Education as a pioneering example of developing reflective and responsible managers.FindingsThe future manager is defined as a reflexive practitioner who is committed to environmental sustainability, exercises social responsibility, works with sensitivity toward gender and diversity issues, harmonizes information and communications technologies with processes and organizational culture, applies holistic perspective in problem solving, cooperates with social and political actors, and is engaged in progressive entrepreneurship.Originality/valueThe paper shows that responsibility can be successfully integrated into a global management education curriculum.

PurposeThis paper seeks to investigate the influence of the increasingly sustainable sourcing policies of many multinational companies on suppliers located in developing countries such as Vietnam. The focus is the process through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) is reaching this Southeast Asian country.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted in Vietnam through the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's (UNIDO) regional office. The survey was based on a questionnaire used during direct interviews or sent out electronically when onsite visits were not possible. The research involved 25 Vietnamese enterprises.FindingsThe results reveal, on the one hand, how CSR makes business sense even in a developing country such as Vietnam and, on the other hand, the difficulties of maintaining sustainability as products move from northern consumers to Vietnamese suppliers. This process calls for more collaborative models of governance among the companies along the supply chain, local authorities, international players, and civil society at large.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the unsustainable process through which corporate responsibility is being imposed on Vietnamese suppliers and how CSR, now required for access to international markets, might eventually turn into a new form of protectionism. To avoid this, CSR must be supported, rather than imposed, through building innovative partnerships and through a demand‐driven educational agenda.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the changing role of governments promoting corporate responsibility (CR) as a result of the challenges raised by globalisation.Design/methodology/approachCR is linked to the restructuring of governments' agendas in the framework of government/private sector/civil society relationships. It is a result of the research project that applies the Relational State Model Approach to the analysis of CR public policies. The relational state situates the relations between the public and private sectors, between the state and society, in the sphere of co‐responsibility.FindingsThe paper concludes that in the UK a more systemic, national government‐centred and business‐oriented approach prevails, while Italy has a more extensive, multi‐stakeholder and multi‐level approach.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should complete the comparative analysis expanding it to other European countries: northern and central European countries to analyse the difference between all European governments in order to promote CR.Practical implicationsThe analytical framework of this paper could be used for academic, business leaders and policy makers to develop future actions in relation to CR public development.Originality/valueThe objective to be achieved is to understand the new political and public framework incorporating CR as a new form of governance. We compare two countries that represent two very different models of government action. The theoretical approach of the paper is based on the comparative analysis of CR governmental vision, objectives, strategies and internal government CR structure.

PurposeThis paper aims to juxtapose two separate perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in terms of their ability to explain the cognitive alignment between managers and stakeholders on what constitutes the social responsibility of the focal firm, and to explain social performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors take two perspectives: that of stakeholder engagement, which has historically characterized the debate on CSR; and that of internal change processes required to integrate CSR in a firm's operations. The authors analyze data from 427 interviews, of which 209 were with managers and 219 with stakeholders of 19 multinational firms in eight sectors, to assess the extent of cognitive alignment between managers and stakeholders on the conceptualization of CSR for the relevant firm, to determine which of the two theoretical perspectives is connected with the degree of cognitive alignment, and to determine which of the two is connected with the perception of corporate social performance (CSP).FindingsThe data examined show no evidence that the degree of sophistication in stakeholder engagement practices is connected with either the magnitude of cognitive gaps, or the level of CSP; whereas the degree of integration in internal operations is connected with both narrower cognitive gaps and higher CSP.Originality/valueThis paper tackles for the first time the problem of measuring and explaining the gaps between managers and stakeholders about their cognitive representations of CSR. The key result of the analysis is that the standard conceptualization of CSR as a stakeholder engagement process does not suffice neither to explain the variation across firms in their managers' cognitive alignment with stakeholders, nor to explain inter‐firm variation in social performance. The strongest explanation for both alignment and performance comes from the extent to which the firm has actually invested in internal change processes aimed at integrating the principles of CSR in the operations and strategies of the firm.